Iron(III) Chloride as a Mild Catalyst for the Dearomatizing Cyclization of N-Acylindoles.

A catalytic approach for the preparation of indolines by dearomatizing cyclization is presented. FeCl3 acts as a catalyst to afford tetracyclic 5a,6-dihydro-12H-indolo[2,1-b][1,3]benzoxazin-12-ones in good yields. The cyclization also proceeds with tosylamides forming C-N bonds in 53% yield.